A Little More Love
by Pikeru's Angel
Summary: Ah, more Scota fluffy goodness! You know you love it. ; Rated K because I'm paranoid. Sort of a companion to 'A Little Love', but you don't have to read that to understand this.


It had started with lunch.

Just once, maybe twice a week Uhura would come down to Engineering, holding a tray and offering one of the plates. At first, Scotty would dread these visits, still not quite as comfortable with people as he was before, say, Delta Vega, but in time he got used to it, even started to enjoy it. He liked having time to rant about how McCoy wasn't letting him work the rest of that week because of this injury or that, or how he'd upgraded (behind the very CMO's back) the dilithium chambers to where they could run better on less dilithium crystals. He chatted about the latest gossip running through the walls, like how it was rumored that a certain doctor was dating Christine Chapel. He made her laugh, and in return she gave him company _other_ than Keenser; a good exchange for both, if you asked him.

And then it became three or four times a week, and before long it was every day (unless there was a crisis, of course). Neither of them really noticed.

It wasn't until around the second month of this going on (they were up to five days a week by that point) that Scotty realized something, something he never bothered to question. So he did.

"Why did you come down here in the first place? As far as I kno' ye aren't great friends with anyone here." He was clearly puzzled, his head cocked to one side as he spoke through a mouthful of tuna-on-rye.

Nyota laughed, a sort of snicker with the occasional snort thrown in. Scotty always loved that sound. "I was just bored and Spock was busy. I figured you of all people would enjoy the company, Mr. I'd-rather-be-down-in-the-bowels-of-the-ship-for-the-rest-of-my-life." She burst out laughing again, and Scotty had to smile.

"You sound like a dork, ye kno'. With tha' snort." She laughed harder, and the Scotsman broke out into a wide grin, their previous topic forgotten.

Around the six month point the started to notice he started to notice a few more things, things that by themselves meant nothing, but together filled him with a new type of dread, among other things.

She blushed lightly at his compliments. Her teasing, somewhere along the road, had turned from what a sister would do to a brother, to oddly flirtatious. She bit her lip, almost nervously, before speaking occasionally. When she thought he was focused on his food, she'd sneak glances up at him. Little things that, by themselves, meant nothing. Together… Well D'Arvit*. That wasn't good. Wasn't she still dating Spock? No, no wait, they'd broken up some-odd-weeks ago. Double D'Arvit.

Then again, didn't she think he was still half-dating (it couldn't be called dating, really) Tricia? He never had told her when they broke up, had he? Woops. It was sort of a good thing though; Nyota thought he was still taken, things never moved past friendship, and he didn't risk another relationship that could crumble around his ears. It sounded like a good enough plan to him.

And then he realized he felt the same way.

Six months in, four after first mentioning current (at the time) relationships, three since it became meeting every day, and two since he'd broken up with Tricia. Suddenly, but somehow going unnoticed, _he_ was the one sneaking glances. _He_ was the one looking away at complements, a light carnation pink spreading over his cheeks. _He _was the one dropping subtle hints at feelings he couldn't quite comprehend. She didn't seem to notice, and for that, he was grateful.

It was disconcerting and terrifying, but he didn't try to put a stop to it.

So now, six months and eight days after their unspoken arrangement began, he confronted her. Not directly at first; easing into a delicate conversation was almost a second nature, something he'd have to thank his Mum for eventually.

Scotty was nervous. Nyota had stopped showing the small hints, whether by force or naturally he didn't know, and though the teasing remained, everything else seemed to have disappeared. Had it just been a crush on her part? What if she said no? Oh God, what if he couldn't do this?

"Tricia and I broke up." Well, that was as good a conversation starter as any.

Uhura froze momentarily, obviously not expecting the rare silence (and it was incredibly rare with the two of them) to be broken. Something flashed in her eyes. Pity? Joy? Hope? It was times like that Scotty wished he had more experience with women.

"That's… too bad." She stirred her soup with her spoon, avoiding his gaze.

"Ah, I knew it would never work out. After Delta Vega and everythin'… It was only a matter of tyme." Idiot, idiot, _idiot_! Show that you cared for her a bit, man!

"Oh, well… Still, I wish it had worked out." Was she lying? Her voice had raised in pitch, just a little bit, almost not enough to be noticed, like it did when she lied.

"Honestly, I'm almost relieved." D'Arvit! He really hadn't meant to say that…

Nyota perked up. "Really? Why?" Just curious, she was only curious. Come on, _say it_!

Scotty cleared his throat. "Well, ya see, there's this other lass -she's on the ship- and I think I might have feelings for her. I didnae want to break Tricia's heart, so it was a wee bit of a comfort." _That wasn't saying it,_ chimed an overly annoying voice in his head.

"Oh." She paused, biting her lip in that cute way Scotty had begun to miss. "What's she like?

Scotty beamed. "Oh, she's brilliant. She studied xenolinguistics back at the academy; best there is. An' she's the most lovin' person you'll ever meet, said she had a pet cat once. I've known her for a while, and I think she might have had feelings for me too at one point. I'm really just hopin' I've not come too late."

Uhura's eye sparkled, and the more she listened, the more she recognized who he was talking about. "Oh, I'm sure you're not too late, Monty. In fact…" She leaned in closer across the desk, her nose almost touching the Scot's. "…I think you're right on time."

Scotty's eyes widened as her lips pressed into his.

The kiss was brief, barely more than a few seconds, but Scotty felt as though his entire life had led up to that moment. That one, spectacular moment when his lips locked with those of the woman he loved; the woman he was meant to be with until time finally came to a halt or the universe decided to implode on itself, whichever came first.

They pulled apart, both smiling like a couple of loons at each other.

"I think Ah'm in love." Scotty whispered.

"What was your first clue, genius?" Nyota laughed, and pulled him in for another kiss.

* * *

***A gaelic curse word meaning something similar to d*mn it.**

**A/N: Oh, I'm so full of fluff these past few days. I bet there'll be some Chapel/McCoy on the way next, I can feel it. Anyone actually wanna see that? Well, that desn't matter; I'll post it even if you don't. ;)**

**Also, there was an alternate ending. Still Scota fluffy goodness, but it's a bit different. If anyone wants I can put it up, so feel free to ask.**


End file.
